For the concentration’s second Career Day, Financial Planning and Wealth Management advisory board members welcomed students to their firms to learn from experts and to experience the office environment.
Financial Planning and Wealth Management (FPWM) is a concentration offered to undergraduate students within the George Mason University School of Business. A program combining finance and accounting, it is designed for students interested in learning how to minimize taxes, plan wealth transfers, form financial plans, and design savings plans for young adults, couples and families. Endorsed by the National CFP Board, the concentration’s qualifications allow students to sit for the Certified Financial Planner Exam after graduation, a major draw for those pursuing CFP certifications.
Many of these students are attracted to the School of Business because of the hands-on, real-world experiences it offers. For the FPWM concentration, one of the most significant opportunities is Career Day, which was held on March 8, 2023. FPWM is supported by an advisory board of accomplished and caring professionals. Two of those members, Daniel Lash, BS Economics ’97, and David Johnson, BS Finance ‘95, took the lead this semester in hosting students at their respective firms.
Daniel Lash is a partner at VLP Financial Advisors, and he has a track record of building long-term client relationships based on trust and understanding. “In anticipation of the students attending the Career Day at VLP Financial Advisors, we included a cross-section of employees who work at VLP to give the students a better understanding of the different positions in our firm and the critical roles these positions serve to best help our clients,” he says. “This included meeting with multiple financial advisors from the founding partner to an advisor who graduated in 2020.” The feedback he received from students was that they came away with a much better understanding of financial planning and asset management because they heard from various employees about their day-to-day responsibilities.
David Johnson is a partner at Signature Estate and Investment Advisors, LLC (SEIA), and his investment management and estate planning focuses on advising corporate executives, business owners, multigenerational families, and trustees. At SEIA, he wanted to ensure that students could partake in a one-day externship where they were able to experience the operations of a financial advisory firm and interact with financial planning professionals at various stages of their respective careers. “My staff found the interactions with the students to be engaging and were impressed by the level of financial planning knowledge the students possessed after only a couple of semesters at Mason,” he says. “The students were raving after the event and we heard multiple students comment that it was ‘one of the best experiences’ they’ve had since attending Mason.”
The two firms organized similar agendas, including office tours, staff introductions, general sessions, case studies, opportunities for questions and answers, and debriefings. Seb Demirkan, associate professor of accounting and director of the FPWM concentration, spearheaded the event from the faculty and academic side. He visited both firms during Career Day and witnessed the excitement and interactions, also noting the hospitality and professionalism of the firms. “Students were very happy and I think these kinds of collaborations and commitments will help us to grow the program faster than we expect,” he says.
Financial Planning and Wealth Management Career Day is open to all students in the concentration, with six students taking advantage of the opportunity this latest time. Not only do they build connections and learn, but they also gain a level of comfort in the workplace that cannot be attained solely from classroom learning. Career Day and the dedication of FPWM advisory board members is enabling this still-new concentration to grow at a rapid rate.